Shadow Wings
by HoneyNLemon
Summary: Love is inevitable. Whether you're the most ruthless, cold blooded murderer or the sweetest bean to ever live, love will always find you. No matter how hard you try to fight it, it will always win the battle. It will find even the smallest of cracks and slip through your defences, rendering you paralyzed. She was beautiful, and Sasuke Uchiha was hopelessly in love with her.
1. Love Is Inevitable

Love is inevitable. Whether you're the most ruthless, cold blooded murderer or the sweetest bean to ever live, love will always find you.

He never thought it to be true, after all he had suffered more loss than love in his short lifetime. At just the age of 8 he became an orphan at the hands of the man he looked up to the most, the man he loved more than anything and the one person who he thought could do no wrong- his older brother. He had been alone ever since, and even though it was entirely his own fault, it was a very cold and heartbreaking existence.

Growing up, he would catch swift glances of the other children at play. Pretending to be ninja, throwing sticks and stones and handfuls of sand at one another. He envied them, he wanted to join and laugh and dance and play and get dirty, but why would he? He would have no-one to run home to, to laugh to, to tell exaggerated details of his day to. There would be no mother to scold him for getting dirty while laughing as he did a horrible reenactment of his shenanigans. He wouldn't be able to hear his fathers voice, telling him to spend less time goofing off and more time training hard and fiercely because that was the shinobi thing to do. His best friend would no longer be there, to tease him, to encourage him, to help him with his homework and then carry him upstairs on his back once he had fallen asleep.

Once he made it further up in the ninja academy, fellow students would often approach him and offer to spar with him after class, request his help in certain areas such as genjutsu, or just ask him to hang out after they were finished for the day. He always declined with a harsh retort of some kind. He wanted them to understand that he wanted to be alone, he wanted to appear unapproachable, cold, unfriendly. It worked for the most part, with the exception of the pack of squealing fan girls who seemed to follow him constantly.

No, there was no point in idle banter and childish antics. So he would hurry passed the screaming, laughing children and run straight to his apartment that was currently being paid for by the village. He had no family, and very little income, so the third Hokage had it set up so the town would take care of him until he got himself a steady job and a steady flow of cash. It was just a small, one bedroom apartment that was located above a tea shop. Mostly seniors and mature folk went there so it was a very quiet neighbourhood, and he liked it like that. He could concentrate on his training, and study in peace without distraction. It was a quiet life, but it was also an unbearably lonely life.

It was entirely of his own doing. And he was content with living out the rest of his days in solitude.

That is... until he met her.

When he first laid eyes on her, he felt time slow stop for a single moment. He tried not to stare, he tried to ignore her, and he had tried time and time again to revert back to his cold and uncaring facade, but once he heard her laughing or carrying on with their classmates, his attention was once more ripped away from his studies. He had vowed years ago to remain single until he had completed his goal, to prevent any distractions and to make sure nothing, and no-one, slowed him down.

But every time he looked at her... he thought more and more about breaking that vow.

She was beautiful. She was enchanting. She was Ankoku Tsubasa.

And Sasuke Uchiha was undeniably, inevitably, and hopelessly in love with her.

* * *

Ankoku Tsubasa was a popular girl, there was no denying it. She was almost like... the Sasuke Uchiha among the males. Her long, wavy black hair paired perfectly with her striking red eyes making her look like a vampire seductress straight out of the movies but it was her personality that made her to die for. She was the sweetest genin in all of Konoha, she was kind and gentle and would give you every ryo in her bank account if you needed it. Her infectious laugh turned heads and her smile could melt even the most merciless demon himself.

So it was no surprise that she had quite the following of admirers, and even though it was commonly known that she had no interest in dating, that didn't stop any of her potential suitors from trying their best anyway.

As for her skills as a shinobi, they went very well with the natural colour scheme she was born with but not so much with her personality. You see, the Tsubasa clan is known for being very in-tune with the realm of the dead. They excel in shadow jutsu, much like the Uchiha are known for their fire jutsu, and they can sometimes feel the emotions and feelings of those who have passed by, and they can reincarnate the dead to fight for them in battle, and although the reanimated beings are strong they only last for a short while but even so they are proven to be very beneficial and they get the job done nonetheless.

So needless to say, when Sasuke had first seen her in action he was shocked. To watch her summon a zombie-like samurai from the depths of the Earth, use it to take out two practice dummies before it dissipated into a cloud of ash and smoke, was as stunning as it was amazing. Her skills as a Tsubasa clan member weren't up to par yet with the rest of her family, but she seemed content to go at her own pace and seemed to be in no rush to be perfect anytime soon.

The two of them had exchanged no more than a few words here and there. He mostly spent his time focusing on his ninja studies while sneaking quick glances at her from time to time. She was a social butterfly and spent a large chunk of her class time socializing unlike him who ate, slept and breathed studying, but even so her marks seemed to be very good despite all the gossip and goofing off.

One day, Iruka-sensei paired them up to do a project together and she had treated him no differently than how she would treat any of her other friends which was to be expected. Sasuke had tried to be his usual emotionless uncaring self but it was hard when he really liked this woman, and those emotions were strange to him and they made him nervous. There were a few times when she caught him staring at her instead of paying attention to the words that were coming out of her mouth, and when she asked him if he was okay he lied and said he was tired and didn't feel good. At first he regretted his on-the-spot excuse, because it made him seem weak and pathetic and that hurt his pride, but after their lunch break when she returned with some home made tea and some cut up fruit from her house he didn't feel so bad. Seeing her worry about him was reassuring and made his heart flutter, which pissed him off.

'Stupid human emotions' he internally cursed.

He was often plagued with thoughts of what it would be like to actually have a girlfriend. More specifically, what it would be like to have Ankoku as his girlfriend. He usually just tried to shake these emotions off and distract himself at the training grounds to destroy a few trees but he couldn't deny that the thought has crossed his mind several dozen times. He had just turned 16 a few months ago, and Ankoku was 15 herself, so he was at that age where his hormones were going beserk and it was frustrating him to no end. There were a few times where he set out towards the academy with the goal in mind to ask her out for ramen or to train with him, but once he entered the classroom and saw her his nerves got the better of him and he spent the entire day kicking himself in the ass while simultaneously avoiding her

Sometimes while they were at school he would try to sit or stand as close to her as possible, hoping to find some excuse to strike up a conversation with her, but there were so many of them in one classroom, so many of them around who could overhear and think differently about him, and she always had so many people chatting her up at all times of the day that he could never will himself to say anything. He often envied Sakura, or Ino, for how ballsy and uncaring the two were. They stood up and screamed their love for him at the top of their lungs on a daily basis, everyone knew and everyone could hear and they didn't care, they just wanted him to know how that they were crazy about him. If only he were that brave, that unafraid to make a move or to let his feelings be known. The image of him standing up at the front of the class and declaring his love for Ankoku Tsubasa in front of dozens of staring eyes made him feel uncomfortable and he shuddered at the thought.

All the citizens of Konoha assumed that all of Sasuke Uchiha's emotions died along with his family that day, but if anything they were amplified tenfold. He felt so much, he yearned for so much, he ached for so much but yet he denied himself all pleasures in life and focused only on bettering himself and bringing himself closer and closer to his goal for revenge. He may be a very cold, often unapproachable guy but he was still human, he still had feelings. It would still shock anyone into unconsciousness if they had knew that he had strong feelings for a woman, had thoughts about that woman and yearned for that woman.

Hell, it shocked the hell out of him. But he was a human being after all, and its human nature to feel these things. No matter how hard you try to fight it, love will always win the battle. You can put up as many barriers, as many walls and layers as you want and it will find even the smallest of cracks and slip through your defences, rendering you paralyzed.

All of these thoughts were racing through the young mans head as he stood in front of the classroom doors. His hands were clammy, his knees were weak and his heart felt as though it were about to rip through his chest cavity. 'Today is the day...' he thought to himself, taking in a deep breathe before entering the room. 'No more messing around... you can do this.'

Today was the day he had thought about for so long. The one that was constantly in his daydreams, he one he tried to make a reality over and over again for months and months without much success. The day that would make him... or break him.

Today was the day that he would finally ask her out on a date.

He was terrified and way out of his comfort zone.


	2. Don't Embarrass Yourself

"Hey Sasuke."

She shot him a small smile as he sat down beside her. This was a strange sight to see, the Uchiha willingly sitting next to another human being. Usually he sat on the far right side of the room, away from everyone and anyone, and he never let anyone sit beside him. Those who dared to do so were met with an icy stare and a feeling of terror.

He nodded in her direction, trying to appear normal. "Hey."

Sasuke had no idea what he was doing. He should have come up with a plan, a ruse, something but he was so busy with his internal struggle that he forgot to actually give himself a plan, a back up plan, and an escape plan just in case things went horribly wrong, which they very well still could. He allowed himself to sneak a quick glance at her. For once she wasn't surrounded by her chatterbox friends, and he wondered if he was the reason they weren't here. He did intimidate the other students and so it wouldn't be surprising if he caused them to flee in terror at the sight of him. Honestly, he was glad.

Iruka-sensei hadn't arrived yet, so the genin were unsupervised and currently doing whatever the hell they felt like doing. Ankoku, without having anyone to talk to, had busied herself drawing some flowers and tree branches on the back cover of Sasuke's notebook. He wasn't sure if she thought it was her own book she was defacing, or if she just didn't care, but he was taking an interest in the young womans doodles.

She was good at drawing, unlike himself who could barely draw up a proportionate stick figure. He started to wonder if there was anything she _wasn't_ good at... She had above-average good looks, she had decent grades, she was athletic, she was very social and likeable, and she could draw. Its almost like when the gods made her, they were so focused on making her great that they forgot to include and sort of flaws.

"I hope you don't mind." Her soft voice broke him out of his thoughts. "Your notebooks looked a little... bland so I decided to give them some character." She said, not taking her eyes off her work in progress. It was then that Sasuke noticed her own notebooks, and the "character" she had given them. A white notebook with the label "Genjutsu" written at the top in very neat and old-styled calligraphy had a nature scene doodled on the front cover. Green grass spotted with baby deer, a tree with a tire swing and a lake in the background. Her "Weapons" notebook had similar writing at the top but this one was a navy blue colour with white-out stars and a moon. A shooting star streaked through the middle while a moon-lit waterfall was nestled in the corner. It seemed she had quite the artistic talent. If she couldn't make it as a shinobi, which she most certainly could, she could make a living selling art.

"All done." She chimed, putting the lid back on her markers. His notebook wasn't as coordinated as hers was. Ankoku had just drawn random images such as flowers, a tree, what looked like a cartoon squirrel, stars, a couple of random coloured dots and a very fancy and colourful Konoha Leaf.

A small, very small, hardly noticeable smile had escaped his lips as he admired his new notebook. Ankoku thought she saw the Uchiha show a hint of amusement on his face but it was hard to tell with him. He was such a hard dude to read, but she knew him well enough to know that if he had had a problem with her defacing his property, he wouldn't have hesitated to let her know in the most rude, unfiltered way possible so it was safe to say he liked what she did.

"Can you draw?" She asked, gathering up the contents of her marker case and cleaning up the desk space before class started. Even though the Uchiha and the Tsubasa were both popular amongst their peers, the two had never actually spent any time together aside from the off class assignment or the occasional greeting when they were both in the same vicinity. Some of the older folk whispered among themselves, talking about how beautiful their children would be if they had ever decided to elope, and some of their fellow students were also curious as to what sort of couple the two beauties would be. Surely Sasuke's cold harshness and Ankoku's gentle warmth would clash and they wouldn't be very compatible but they would look good together.

Sasuke's fan girls also had the occasional thought of what would happen if the two of them had ever became a couple. He had never once shown any sort of positive emotion or romantic attraction towards any female in Konoha, and sometimes they wondered if he even swung that way, while some thought he could possibly be asexual, but there was no denying that they all knew very well that Ankoku Tsubasa would be extremely tough competition to beat if their beloved Sasuke had ever started to drift in her lane.

"Not really." He replied, handing her a bright yellow marker that had rolled over into his area. "Not like that anyway."

He spoke with his usual flat tone, with very little to no emotion, but he had actually spoken back to her with real words and not grunts, which was very unlike him. Ankoku wasn't a fan girl by any means, and she couldn't even call them friends really but she was always curious about the Great Sasuke Uchiha and had wanted to approach him on more than one occasion. He was a gifted shinobi with the highest scores possible and he had heard a few people refer to him as "The rookie to beat." He was also one of the only people in their class who never spoke a word to her, with the other being Shino Aburame. Even Hinata Hyuga herself spoke to Ankoku at least one or twice a week. It didn't really offend her as much as it made her curious. Who was Sasuke Uchiha really?

He was as mysterious as he was handsome, and she couldn't deny that he was handsome, but even so looks aren't everything and you can't judge someone solely based on how hot you think their face is. She knew pretty much next to nothing about him, and he also struck her as being very weird. There were several times she caught him staring at her, only for him to show .5 seconds of panic or shock before whipping his head around to face a different direction. Sometimes he would go out of his way to sit by her, or stand near her, but then as quickly as he came he would disappear just as fast. She often wanted to ask him what his deal was, ask if he had something to say to her or if he was just a weird dude but she decided to leave him alone. Cornering Sasuke Uchiha wasn't a smart decision.

"I'm really not that good." She laughed, reaching over and drawing a simple smiley face on his hand with a black pen. "Not as good as I could be anyway."

This was the moment he was waiting for. There they were, side by side, with no one around them. She was talking to him, she was interacting with him, and he knew that she was trying to engage with him further but this was way outside of Sasuke's realm of knowledge. He was good at punching and kicking things, his aim with a kunai was excellent and his fire jutsu was unmatched in strength and power but when it came to socialization, with a woman that he liked nonetheless, he was as clueless as Naruto. He had no idea what to say, or what to do.

"Hn." Was his reply.

She raised an eyebrow at him and it took everything he had to resist smashing his face into the cold hard desk below him. 'Sasuke you idiot.'

Before Ankoku could think of an appropriate thing to say to further a conversation with a guy who just "Hn"ed at her, Iruka-sensei entered the room.

"Sorry I'm late folks." He said, setting down the heavy books in his arms. "The Hokage called a meeting for all the teachers and we didn't expect it to drag on as long as it did."

Because their classes started so late, Iruka-sensei decided to let the students have a free period to catch up on some work. A large portion of the class got up and went outside to the field out back to practice for their upcoming exams, while some including Ankoku and Sasuke decided to linger behind and catch up on some book work.

Sasuke was still beating himself up for ruining a perfectly good opportunity to befriend her, while Ankoku was trying to figure out what his deal was. Why would he make the effort to come sit beside her if he was just going to ignore her? She knew that he wanted _something_ but she had no idea what. His behaviour was as clear as day with the staring, the lingering and now this. Did he have something to ask her? Did he want to say something to her? Was there something he wanted to give her? Maybe he was just really shy?

Curiosity, and a little bit of frustration, had reached its limit and she turned herself to the left to ask him what was going on but before she could open her mouth, he spoke up.

"What are you doing after class?"

Her blood-red eyes stared into his pitch-black ones with all sorts of emotion. Confusion, worry, paranoia, shock, amusement, all kinds were present. Sasuke just asked her what she was doing after class. What a vague question... what would she tell him? Her original plan was to just go home and stuff her face with rice and read some of her notes, maybe continue working on the blanket she was knitting. All of those things could be done another time, they weren't super important besides the notes, and she wanted to know what this was all about.

"Nothing much." She said casually, tossing her long black hair out behind her back. "Why what's up?"

He hadn't expected it to get this far. Even though he showed up to class today with the goal in mind to ask her out, he had chicken out long ago and decided to just cower in fear and awkwardness beside her until class ended. However, he could tell by her sudden change in body language that his chance with her was slowly drifting way and he knew that if he didn't act fast, she would never give him a chance.

So when he asked her what she was doing after class, and her response indicated that she maybe-possibly-probably would be open to doing something with him, he froze. He hasn't expected it to get this far at all. He had nothing planned, no response, no explanation for his sudden question just... a blank space where his mind should be.

'Why are you like this?' He wondered, feeling himself getting more and more flustered. 'Just do it.'

He slowly turned towards her to see her looking up at him with an expression of puzzlement and... was that hopefulness he saw? Maybe she wanted to talk to him as much as he wanted to talk to her. The thought had never crossed his mind, that Ankoku could also be interested in him in some way, shape or form. He did have many female admirers, but he didn't think she fell into that category. She just seemed so... different. So normal. So content with just being by herself or with her friends. He was so focused on how he felt about her, he never once thought about how she might feel about him.

Did she like him? At all? As a friend or as more? Or did she loathe and detest his very presence? He was very aloof and unapproachable, so naturally there was a significant amount of people who weren't too fond of the young Uchiha. He was also doing a very good job at blowing his first, and possibly only chance, so if he didn't step up know he would never know where her head was at.

"Would you-" He was interrupted by Iruka-sensei announcing the end of their free period and thus the end of class. The sounds of desks scraping, loud chatter and screams of excitement were all that could be heard as the students all scrambled to get out of class as fast as possible, after all it was Friday and they were all looking forward to having the weekend off. Sasuke turned towards Ankoku to try and finish what he was trying to say but a group of girls had swept in and kidnapped her, dragging out out the back doors. She looked back towards him twice on her way out, both times she had an expression on her face that told him she was apologetic and wanted to hear what he had to say. He sighed to himself and muttered a few curse words before packing up his own belongings and following after the crowd.

He would try again on Monday.

* * *

That night, he felt a whole mix of emotions. They were so intense, all of them clashing, fighting, whirring and stirring inside of him that he grew restless and impatient and made a trip to the training fields. It was 9pm, so it was dark, quiet and unoccupied. Just the way he liked it.

Being so overwhelmed with emotion, he didn't know where to begin so he started out by leisurely tossing kunai at one of the practice logs. His behaviour lately was so unlike him, so strange and unfamiliar... it gave him horrible anxiety. He wanted nothing more than to go back to who he was month ago, before he started to give in to his hormones and his emotions and his feeling and that woman. Sasuke had always had a small crush on Ankoku, because she was very much his type physically so of course it was lust at first sight for him, but once he got to see who she was as a person he realized that she was also his type in every other aspect as well. He didn't even know he had a type until then, but he knew that Ankoku Tsubasa was exactly that.

He was good at ignoring his feelings for a while, allowing himself the quick glance here and there, or the inappropriate thought once in a while, but as time went on he found himself longing for more than just a fantasy, more than just a look from a distance. He wanted to know what it was like to hug someone, to feel their warm body against yours as you wrapped your arms around one another. The sound of someone elses heartbeat, the sound of their breathing. He wondered what it was like to cuddle with another human being. To be little spoon, to feel someones lips against his own, to taste another. And because he was at that age, he wanted to know what it was like to have sex.

Blaming puberty and whacky hormones he decided to give in to these thoughts and these feelings, and allow himself to have those feelings for Ankoku. After all, he thought, its not like it means anything. But as time went on they began to mean everything. Every time he pushed those thoughts aside to think about his goal, his revenge, they burst forth even more intense than before. He started thinking less and less about hate and more and more about what its like to love and be loved, and this pissed him off. He hated himself for it, but he was in too deep and no matter how hard he tried, no matter how hard he willed himself to stop and to change, he couldn't go back to who he was, to how he used to feel.

Sasuke was a human being. Sasuke has feelings. Sasuke has emotions. Sasuke is in love.

He hadn't noticed it, but while he was lost in his thoughts he began to throw his kunai with more and more aggression until the practice log became nothing more than a pile of splintered wood on the dirt below. 'Oh great.' He thought, struggling to pull the kunai free from its wooden prison. 'Look what you've made me do, Ankoku'

It took him a while, a long while, but eventually he succeeded in retrieving all of his kunai. One or two of them had a slight bend to them now but it was hardly noticeable and they still worked the same, or at least he hoped they would. His thoughts drifted back to the object of his affection. What is she up to this weekend? Sasuke had hoped that they would run into one another, casually in public. He also hoped that one day he would grow a pair and ask her out.

He was fearless in every other aspect of his life, but when it came to that one particular woman, she terrified him.

* * *

At the same time, far away from the training grounds, a certain red-eyed kunoichi was scheming all on her own. She sat cross-legged on a pillow on her floor, a cup of tea that had lost all its heat long ago sat beside her. Her long, black hair was tied up in a high ponytail, her pj's consisted of pink and white plaid pants and a pink tank top. Even though she looked like she should be goth, and her abilities were what a stereotypical goth kid would have, she really liked all things pink and fluffy. Even Sakura Haruno with her almighty pink hair would cringe at the sight of Ankoku's bedroom and all its pink glory.

"Now then you freaky boy you." Ankoku said, taking a sip of her cold tea. "I will figure you out."

Thankfully for Ankoku, Sasuke Uchiha had a routine that he never strayed away from. It was Friday night which meant tomorrow is Saturday, and every Saturday morning while Sakura is out for brunch with her parents and Ino is visiting her grandmother, Sasuke will be fearlessly wandering around the market, buying his groceries for the week. It was like clockwork. When he arrived tomorrow, she would be there waiting for him, and she will be ready. She currently had a bunch of papers spread out on the floor in front of her, with notes and thoughts scribbled chaotically.

She would figure him out one way or another.

* * *

When she approached him, he thought he was dreaming. When she asked him to hang out, he assumed he was hearing things. When she linked her arms in his and started to drag him away, he thought he was going to faint.

Every Saturday, Sasuke takes a trip to the market before Ino and Sakura are released from the grip of their families and begin their usual pursuit of him. However, today when he arrived at he market, he was met with an unexpected and quite pleasant surprise.

Ankoku Tsubasa.

She was leaning on a pile of cider crates off to the side, staring absentmindedly at the stall vendors and citizens of Konoha while they mingled with one another. She wore a pair of dark blue skinny jeans, black ankle boots, a tight fitted blank tank-top with a pink sweater over top. Her long hair, which was usually held back out of her face with a clip, was tied back in a low bun at the nape of her neck. He thought she looked extremely beautiful, as he thought everyday, but compared to her he felt very plain. He didn't care about anything when he woke up this morning so he threw on a pair of black pants, black flats, and a plain white t-shirt.

Before he had the chance to turn on his heel and run back the way he came, she had spotted him. When she saw him standing there, her face lit up and she ran in his direction. At first, he assumed he was imagining things but when she came to a stop in front of him he felt himself grow hopeful. Was she there to see him perhaps? It wouldn't be hard to find him today, after all everybody knew of his routine by now as he had been keeping it up for the last 8 years or so. Saturdays were spent at the market, and then the training grounds.

"Hey you." She greeted with a smile. "I was hoping I'd run into you today."

Sasuke felt his heart skip a beat. "Y-you were?" Damn, he tripped on his own words and stuttered like a moron. Way to go loser, he thought mentally kicking himself in the ass, don't embarrass yourself. She nodded and continued smiling.

"You asked me what I was doing this weekend..." She spoke up, tucking a stray piece of hair behind her ear. "So I naturally assumed that, if you had gotten the opportunity to finish what you were saying, that you were going to ask me if I wanted to do something."

She paused. Waited. Sasuke did not know how to respond, but when she saw his cheeks turn 50 shades of red, she let out the breath that she had been holding. 'So I was right...'

When she first caught him staring at her, she didn't think much of it. He was a weird dude and spent a lot of time brooding so she thought he must have spaced out or something along the lines of that. But when it kept happening over and over, she started to wonder if he was interested in her. She started to grow more and more suspicious as time went on, and last night after much thinking, pondering, scribbling and much tea, she was pretty sure that the boy was interested in her, in that way, at least a little bit. It was just a hunch though, he could just be a weird dude.

Honestly, she felt flattered at the possibility of him having a crush on her. Sasuke Uchiha was very handsome and he was the most desirable man their age, besides Neji Hyuuga, and unbeknownst to him, Ankoku used to have a huge crush on him several years ago. She got over that after a few months when she realized that her feelings would never be reciprocated. Right now, getting a boyfriend currently isn't on her to-do list, but in light of recent events she was starting to wonder what it would be like to date him and old girlish feelings started to resurface.

Her face grew hot as she shook off the thoughts that started to plague her mind.

'Perish the thought lass.' She scolded herself. 'You aren't interested in boys right now.'

* * *

 **Authors Notes;**

I'm trying to make a semi-realistic story.

Having 12-13 year olds going on dangerous missions and killing people seems suuuper weird to me so I upped their ages to 15-16.

My goal is to write a story that is a bit different, so I decided to start everything off with Sasuke hardcore crushing on a girl. As you can tell, this story is very Sasuke-centered and mostly focused on his feelings.

As I've mentioned before, Sasuke is human and humans have feelings. He may seem a bit OOC, but him being a teenager and developing a crush isn't out of the realm of possibilities.

Please leave me feedback :) It would be greatly appreciated! Thanks so much!

PS: "Ankoku Tsubasa" means "Shadow Wings" which is also the title of the story as I am very much not creative with naming things and took the easy way out.


	3. 1st And 2nd Chance

This was, without a doubt, the most awkward date Ankoku had ever been on.

Was it even a date? She had no idea what Sasuke was calling it, but she was going to call it a date regardless. This wasn't anything at all what she thought a date with the Konoha heartthrob would be like, she had expected romantic and passionate not awkward and uncomfortable. And to think, this is what every female in their age group would literally _kill_ for.

When she confronted him at the market, he had said absolutely nothing in response. Instead, he just stared at her, wide eyed and silent- like Naruto during lectures. She had given him 1, maybe 2 minutes to form words but after that she grew impatient and just pulled him down the street by his arm. He didn't resist, like she thought he would, but he came relatively easily. As easy as dragging a bag of straw that weighed 120 lbs anyway.

The first thing they did was get something to eat. There was a local seafood restaurant nearby and the two stopped there and had the lunch special, seaweed soup and onigiri. While they ate, Ankoku yammered on about one thing or another while Sasuke sat there silently eating. Even though he seemed bored to tears he was actually quite content, listening to her go on and on about what this girl said to the other girl and how she thinks Hinata is actually so sweet, sometimes she things painting is her true passion and not knitting, and so on. He thought about chiming in here and there but in reality he had absolutely no idea what she was talking about, it sounded like another language that only females spoke, but he enjoyed listening to her nonetheless. He was more of a listener anyway.

Honestly, he was feeling very self conscious the entire time. She had obviously taken the time to appear decent this morning, wearing actual casual wear with her hair pinned back neatly, while he didn't expect to do anything close to social today and was dressed like he just crawled out of bed, which wasn't very far from the truth. If he had any inkling that he would be running into Ankoku today, let alone actually hanging out with her, he would have put a great amount of effort into his appearance.

After the were finished their lunch she accompanied the boy as he ran his errands, carrying some of his bags even though he insisted he could manage on his own, and even recommending certain food items for him to use in a recipe she said was to die for. He stayed mostly silent while they shopped around, responding in single words or very short sentences when he absolutely had to. Ankoku was growing increasingly more and more annoyed as time went on, while Sasuke grew more restless and nervous. After a while they decided to call it quits and the two teens walked together bath to Sasuke's apartment. Ankoku didn't want to seem rude and intrude on his personal space, so she just dropped the bags outside of his door and then said her goodbye.

"Well... its been fun" she said, which was a huge lie. It was the exact opposite of fun. "See you Monday, don't forget we're being tested on shuriken and kunai."

Sasuke nodded. "Have a good weekend." He waited until she was around the corner and out of sight before he smashed his head against his door. 'Why are you like this...' he wondered, replaying the events of the day over and over in his mind like a bad broken record. He was pretty sure he just blew what could quite possibly be his only chance.

On her way home, Ankoku had some time to reflect on the events of that day. It was mostly just her talking away while Sasuke... listened? Or didn't listen. She had no idea if he had heard any of the words that left her mouth. In a way, it was mostly her fault. She had attacked him unexpectedly on his trip to the market and most of the things she talked about were things related to her and of no interest to him what-so-ever. 'I guess I had been so excited at the thought that... him of all people might like me, I didn't think things through.' she thought, letting out a sign. 'I blew it.'

In reality, she should have just casually bumped into him in public, or had given him prior knowledge that the two of them were going to be spending time together. He looked uncomfortable, and he kept fidgeting with his clothes and hair which she understood as him being uncomfortable, but maybe he was self conscious? After all, she knew what was going down today, while Sasuke did not.

"I'll try one more time." She said to herself, as no-one else was around her. "Don't rush things. You can do this girl!"

* * *

After the events of the day before, the last thing she expected was a visit from Sasuke Uchiha at 10am the following day.

When the door opened, the last thing he expected was to see Ankoku Tsubasa dressed in pink pyjamas with fuzzy pink slippers that were shaped like bunnies.

"Hello." She said, her eyes wide like saucers. She had been caught off guard by his sudden appearance at her house and wasn't entirely sure if she was dreaming or hallucinating.

"Hey." He replied, shoving his hands in his pocket, eyeing her horrendous choice in footwear. "Are you busy today?"

Sasuke had spent a long while pondering over his grocery order the previous night. He couldn't remember what Anokoku had said about anything, he was too busy staring at her pretty face to actually absorb the words that were coming out of her mouth. "If only she were still here..."

Then it dawned on him. What a perfect ploy!

She blinked. "No, not that I'm aware... why what's up?"

Sasuke kicked a rock at his feet, trying to appear not nervous but in reality was coming off as very nervous. "I don't remember what to do with the ingredients you told me to buy yesterday..." he began, raising his eyes to meet her large, curious ones. "I was wondering... if you could show me how to make... whatever it was you told me to make."

While Ankoku rushed into the bathroom to get ready, she gave him the okay to look around while he waited. Her house wasn't very large, just big enough to house a small average family. Of course the Tsubasa compound was comprised of several houses of similar size, all huddled together on one large stretch of land surrounded by a gated fence, that was apparently left unlocked more often than it should be. Are they trusting of their Konoha neighbours, or are they just naive?

On a stand in the front room he saw a family photo. It was Ankoku, her mother and her father together, all of them wearing traditional kimono in the clan colours- grey, white and purple. This photo must have been taken during the summer, before she got her haircut, because she had no bangs and all of her was hair pulled back in a neat bun on the top of her head, adorned with decorative combs and pins. When summer ended, she had her hair trimmed and went back to bangs again. During his roam around the house he passed a large sitting room with tatami mats, pillows, and a small table in the centre littered with books and one single teapot, which he assumed was the sitting room. The kitchen was pretty small but the dining room was large enough to fit 4-5 people comfortably. One bedroom, the master bedroom, was very plain looking only having a large bed in the centre, a wardrobe off to one side and a sliding door close to the other.

But when he got to the last room...

"So much pink..." He said, gazing into the unspeakable horror that he would soon learn was Ankoku's room.

Her bed, was in the far left corner. The bed spread on top of it was dark pink with a pattern of lighter pink circles. There were about half a dozen odd shaped pillows on top of the bed that were also various shades of pink, and one of them was made of pure white fluff it appeared. She had pink curtains, with black lace curtains hung over top, a pink decorative rug was on the floor in the middle of the room, the closet door was shut but had some pink and white lights hanging around them and the vanity, was black and not pink but was decorated in various things like pink candles, body sprays and perfumes, notebooks and clutter.

And then his eyes fell to the giant stuffed rabbit in the corner sitting in a, you guessed it, pink arm chair.

"That's Momo" A voice spoke up to his right causing him to flinch. Ankoku had returned while he was examining her room and he had the same face that everyone else did when they laid eyes on her pink fluffy paradise. He was so absorbed in what he was seeing that he hadn't noticed her walk up, and when she peaked in she smirked when she realized that he was mortified at the sight of her giant fluffy friend in the corner. "Like it?" She laughed, elbowing him in the side.

He closed his eyes, unable to bear the sight of the colour any longer. "Why..." was all he could say.

She laughed again. "I love pink, what can I say?" Sasuke opened his eyes, expecting her to also be entirely pink but much to his relief she was not. She was wearing dark purple leggings, a black dress that went down to her thighs with a lacy corset pattern across the chest, with a grey sweater overtop. Her shoes, which were simple flats, were also grey. Her clan colours. Her hair was tied in its usual manner, with the sides clipped back out of her face. The rest of it fell down along her shoulders while her bangs, which had grown considerably in the last month, were parted in the middle and swept out of her face.

He felt heat rush to his face. She looked so good, as she usually did, and today he made sure that he did too. He was wearing black skinny jeans, black flats and a white T-shirt with a black sweater over top. He wasn't used to wearing casual every day clothes, as he usually lived in his ninja attire, but he couldn't very well woo a woman with a dirty, sweaty shirt and a pouch full of dangerous pointy objects.

Unless that's what she was into, which he somehow knew she wasn't.

* * *

The walk to Sasuke's apartment wasn't as painful as she had anticipated. He had broken the silence first, asking her how her day went last night after they parted ways. She told him about the blanket she was knitting, dark purple and pink, and then admitted that she spent most of her night panicking over their weapons test on Monday. Throwing objects accurately was not her strongest attribute.

"I've never once hit the bulls eye!" She exclaimed, throwing her hands up in frustration. "Iruka-sensei keeps telling me that its fine but I know its not fine, how can I be a ninja if I can't hit a thing with another thing?!"

Sasuke chuckled. Watching her get so worked up over something so small was cute, in a semi-frustrating, semi-endearing kind of way. He thought the way she expressed herself was funny and adorable, but because he is who he is he was mildly aggravated with her for somehow not being able to throw a kunai like a normal human being. It was as easy as walking, or breathing, and the only other person he knew of who failed that badly at hand-eye coordination was Uzumaki and he'll be damned if hes about to compare Ankoku Tsubasa to that idiot.

"It's all in the wrist." He said, lifting his arm to imitate how he would throw one. "Honestly, its not that hard. I can probably teach you."

He never helped any other other students. They've all approached him more than once to ask or help with one thing or another but he always turns them down, and never offers to lend any assistance. But for her, he'd make an exception. He just hoped she wouldn't tell anyone. The last thing he needed was his classmates thinking he had suddenly gone soft and was suddenly approachable.

"Really?!" Her eyes lit up. "Oh my god that would be sooooo awesome!" She reached down, grasping his hands in hers and clapping excitedly. He had no idea what this was supposed to be, but he wasn't about to complain. She was holding his hand. Sort of... This was as far as he's ever gotten with a girl, if you don't count all the forced hugging from Sakura and Ino.

Once their one-sided celebratory clapping had ended, her spirits had lifted tremendously compared to moments ago, and she was humming contently as they walked through the streets of Konoha together. "I'm excited now, you don't even know~" She said, putting her hands behind her back and humming a different, more upbeat song than before.

He tried to hold back but he couldn't help but crack a small smile at how excited she was over something to simple.

Ankoku wasn't at all surprised when she saw how bland Sasuke's apartment was. It was just like his notebook... plain. No character. A blank canvas just waiting for her to paint it colourful.

'Oh the things I could do to this place...' She silently schemed, taking note of all the bare walls, the plain furniture and the absence of any sort of decoration. Sasuke had no pictures, paintings, candles, ornaments, posters, plants, statues, figurines, stuffed animals, throw blankets or cushions on his couch. It was almost too plain for her to handle.

"Oh honey..." She said, taking in all the empty nothingness. He turned and looked at her with an eyebrow raised. Yeah sure she had just called him honey, which sent a small shock through his system, but he tried not to let it get to him because he knew Ankoku Tsubasa enough to know what she was "oh honey"ing about.

"Hnn..."He grunted, walking over to the the stove to turn the kettle on. Ankoku loved tea, and he was secretly very happy that she had mentioned what kind of tea she liked while they were shopping the day before and he had discreetly slipped some into his basket. "I'm not much for decorating. Waste of time if you ask me."

She narrowed her eyes. "You do not know who you are talking to mister." His eyebrows went the opposite direction, furrowing downwards. "With your permission sir, I will make this place look fabulous"

At first, he dreaded the thought of her revamping his apartment. It really was a sight for sore eyes, because it was almost entirely white and oak wood and had no character to it, but the last thing he wanted was for it to look like a unicorn threw up on it. But then again, maybe he could use this as another excuse for them to spend time together. Him playing/being dumb and needing her to come teach him how to cook, him teaching her how to throw a kunai and her coming over periodically to redecorate his living space... He went from no opportunities to three easy chances. It was almost like the gods realized how pitiful he was and took pity on him.

"No pink." Was all he said as he pulled two identical black mugs out of the cupboard. "And no fluffy things."

"But that's not a no, right?!"

"No."

"No that _is_ a no?"

"No."

"No that's _not_ a no?"

"No its not a no."

"Ooohhh!"

Satisfied she let out a small high pitched squeak and then started taking in her surroundings, making mental notes of things to buy, things to do and things she needed to make. Sasuke sighed, deep deep down he had a feeling that he was going to seriously regret this decision, but if it brought the two of them together then it was a sacrifice he thinks he might be willing to make. He wasn't entirely sure if a woman was worth having his apartment decorated with pink bunnies and scented candles, only time will tell.

Once the tea was made, the two of them set off to preparing a meal. The recipe they were making was some sort of foreign dish her aunt had taught her how to make. It was chicken and veggies in a spicy peanut sauce on top of rice noodles. At first, watching her add lime juice and peanuts together with spice paste was almost too painful for him to watch, but in the end the result was delicious and he found himself wishing he had paid closer attention to what she was doing, and less attention to her, so he could make this on his own. He had helped her prep the veggies and the meat, while she did the cooking and made sure to talk him through step by step. Even though it looked like he as paying attention to her, he was not paying any attention at all focusing mostly on her face and other areas. It was rare he saw her in a dress, so he had to make sure he paid extra special attention.

While they ate, they made small chit-chat. She asked Sasuke random questions while he was more than happy to answer them, even though he wasn't a fan of talking about himself. As the night wore on, he opened up more and started to show more and more emotion which made Ankoku happy. She found out that he does not have a favourite colour, he loves onigiri and hates tomatoes. He spends all his free time training or studying which is why he's top of the class. He's never had a girlfriend, he isn't a homosexual as far as he knows and he hates all of the girls in their class except for Ankoku and maybe like 3 others.

"... and that's why if I had to choose between Sakura or Ino, I'd just cut off my own limbs." He said taking a sip of his cold tea. "Honestly, both of them repulse me."

"I can't imagine hating someone to much you'd rather dismember yourself but I suppose if I were in your position I'd feel the same way." Ankoku laughed, imagining Sasuke chewing off his own arm in an attempt to except Sakura's grasp. "I feel sorry for you, I don't know how you can deal with that every day."

Sasuke almost choked on his tea. Does she not realize that her fanboys are just as ridiculous as his fan girls? He once watched Kiba knock a guy out just for blocking his view of her.

"Don't you deal with similar issues?" He asked, curious now. "I mean, boys bother you too don't they?"

She placed her finger to her chin as if deep in thought. "Not really." She said, looking even more puzzled than before. "I mean, sure guys like me and ask me out a lot but I don't pay them any attention."

"I suppose... They don't bother me much though. Not like yours do."

While his own pack of nasty women were very loud and very obvious with their obsession, Ankoku's were slightly less so. Sure, they surrounded her daily and stared her down with ferocious intensity, tried to strike up a conversation any and every chance they got and littered her desk with cards, flowers and other tokens of affection, but they weren't as vocally obvious. They didn't scream in one anothers faces, declare their love in front of the whole class or chase her down in the hallways or streets of Konoha.

An awkward silence fell upon the two of them while they sat and drank their tea. Both lost in similar thoughts.

'So... does he like me or not?' Ankoku wondered. 'This is unlike his usual behaviour... maybe he's possessed.' It was rare to see the Uchiha nice to anyone, and it was even more rare to see him actually interact with somebody else outside of school time.

'Does she like me? Or... does she not? It's so hard to tell with her...' Sasuke was frustrated. Ankoku was such a nice girl to everyone she came into contact with, he wasn't sure if she was actually interested in him or if she was just being her usual friendly self.

'I wonder if I should ask him out on a proper date?'

'I wonder what she'd say if I asked her out on a real date?'

'This is so awkward, should I say something?'

'Say something you fool before she thinks you're bored.'

Ankoku slowly raised her eyes to see Sasuke doing the same. The two locked eyes over their tea cups, a ruby staring into the void. Unable to handle the awkward eye contact and the silence, she began to laugh. Sasuke, unable to help himself, smiled back at her, having to hold back his own laugh. She was infectious, like a virus you tried desperately not to catch but fate had other plans. Her happiness spread through the room like a radiant warmth that caused even the most icy heart to begin to thaw. He wasn't sure if he like what she was doing to him, causing him to feel things he doesn't want to feel. To want things that would slow him down on the path to his goal. He knew that if he continued his pursuit of her, he would ultimately lose control and the shield he fought so hard to maintain would come crashing down around him like broken glass. This was risky, too risky.

Was it a risk he wanted to take?

Did he really want her that badly?

After all, she could mean the end of him and all he has accomplished so far. He wanted her, that much he knew, but was she worth it all? It would be better for the both of them if he just ended things right here, thanked her for helping him cook and then sent her on her way, telling her to never look back and to forget him. He could be cold, and he could be mean. He could scare her off so she'd never look at him twice ever again, then he could go back to the way things were before and he could put 100% of his focus towards his goal.

Or he could let go of his ambitions and settle down in Konoha, live a normal life, with normal friends. Be a regular teenager, and laugh and love and hurt and cry and feel things. He could do that as well, I'm sure his peers would have no problem accepting him into their social circle, and they'd probably be over the moon ecstatic to have a social bubbly happy Sasuke around instead of the cold, broody moody one. He often wondered what it would be like to act like the rest of them, they all seemed to happy and happiness was something he forgot long ago.

Perhaps he could do both? Have his cake and eat it too, or so they say.

He hated to admit it, but he knew what he had to do. He had to let her go. His mission was too important to let something as childish as love get in the way of things. When he dropped her off at home, he would tell her that this whole thing was a mistake, he was not himself today. She meant nothing to him. He didn't need her. He didn't want her. She was weak and she would only slow him down.

Sasuke had the entire thing figured out, from start to finish. He was going to let her down harshly, so she'd absolutely never try to come running back to him.

That was the plan anyway.

Instead, he asked her out on a date.

* * *

The dish they made was Pad Thai.

They're such innocent beans. Your usual awkward, inexperienced fumbly teenager.

I'm really bad at this.

Please let me know what you think! ^_^


End file.
